Hitchhikers
Page 19
Kayla? I send out, looking for her toffee-colored fur.
The wolves move toward me, but one makes her way to the front of the pack. I yell, “Kayla!” which comes out as a yelp because I’ve forgotten that I’m not human, and run to her, my wolf fur melting off along the way until my bare limbs are floundering in the snow. I throw my arms around the ruff of her neck and hug her until her pelt fades away and we’re grasping one another, skin to skin.
“What just happened?” I ask. “Did you kill all of them?” There are only four wolves including Kayla, against all those other wolves. Against ten other wolves.
“We managed to ambush them while they were chasing you,” Kayla explains, smiling and breathing hard. “We knew they were setting a trap for you, so we got here first. It worked out perfectly. They never knew we were here. We were able to start at the back of the pack and pick them off, one by one. Some got away, but we killed two and injured at least five others.”
“The black one?”
She shakes her head. “He was the leader of this attack, the most powerful one of this group. He sensed our presence, and took off before we even got close.”
“I couldn’t smell them,” I tell her. “They didn’t have a scent at all until I turned wolf.”
Kayla nods. “Pack magic.”
Finally I turn my attention from Kayla to the other wolves surrounding us, keeping a respectful distance. “This is our pack?”
“All that’s left.” Kayla gazes at the others, and they take this as a signal to reveal their human forms.
“Mom!” I cry. “Aunt Julie!” As for the third, I don’t recognize him. He doesn’t look like my dad, or my uncles. He looks to be a few years older than me, maybe in his early twenties, with curly blond hair and eyes of such a pale blue that at first glance I wonder if he’s blind. But he’s looking directly at me, not in a challenging way. More like he’s waiting for me. Finally, when it becomes apparent that he will not be the first to speak, I ask, “Who are you?”
“My name is Remy Loupe,” he states. And again waits.
Loupe was my grandmother’s maiden name. I recall what Kayla had told me, about my great-grandfather, Fallon Loupe, and the four children who managed to escape his killing spree. Remy must be the son or grandson of one of the other survivors.
I nod, and Remy drops his eyes. Tension I hadn’t been aware of dissolves from the air. I sense that he was not the leader, even among three women. It’s strange to me that he is willing to allow me, someone much younger and less experienced, to have a higher place in the pack.
Daniel
Kayla has returned to wolf form, and quickly the others follow suit. I’m still sitting on my bare ass in the snow. I look into her deep brown eyes.
You don’t need me to be your leader, do you?
I made a mistake, putting this all on your shoulders. You are strong – but together we can be stronger.
For some reason, this makes my shoulders droop with relief. I melt into wolf.
Together… I like that idea.
It’s hard to tell if she’s smiling, but I can feel her happiness radiating into me. I don’t have to be some impossible superhero responsible for saving the world. I don’t have to protect Kayla, and she doesn’t have to protect me. We can look out for each other.
We head off toward home, Kayla and I, shoulder to shoulder, surrounded by our family.
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Other Books in the Wolf Point Series
About the Author
Kate Spofford lives in New Hampshire and works as a young adult librarian. In her spare time she writes novels and trains for the circus. For more information, visit her online at https://www.katespofford.wordpress.com.
Copyright © 2013 by Kate Spofford
Cover design by Kate Spofford
Cover background image by Margus Saluste (https://www.sxc.hu/gallery/msaluste),
used with permission
Cover foreground image by Amir Kurbanov, used with permission
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First eBook Edition: September 2013